Few quarterbacks in the SEC are coming into 2025 with starting experience.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning is the betting favorite to win the Heisman; however, he only has two career starts under his belt.

But LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier is entering the 2025 season having played in 31 career games, including starting all 13 games for the Tigers in 2023.

At SEC Media Days, LSU head coach Brian Kelly’s comments about his starting quarterback shouldn’t go unnoticed as the fifth-year senior aims to win the 2026 National Championship.

It’s no secret that LSU has a track record of sending elite quarterback talent to the NFL. Joe Burrow has been a top quarterback in the league for years, and most recently, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels was the NFL Rookie of the Year and took the league by storm in 2024.

In 2024 — his first full season as the starting quarterback — Nussmeier threw for 4,052 yards, 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Now, Kelly is confident that his quarterback will take a similar leap to what Daniels made in his second season.

“Garrett Nussmeier will have a similar jump. It’s because you go on the road and it’s sold out, you play teams that are so well-coached and so balanced and have great players that you have no choice but to learn, develop, and get better, or you’re going to be left by the side,” Kelly said.

“So that’s why I’m so confident that experience in this league at the quarterback position is the most important thing. Could you come in and play as freshmen? Absolutely. But there will be those moments where you look like a freshman. You look like a first-year player. Garrett will tell that you. And he wasn’t a true freshman. He had seen it, been there.”

Despite having the second-best odds of winning the Heisman Trophy in 2025, Kelly said winning the award is not Nussemeier’s goal.

“All of our conversations with him aren’t about individual goals, they’re about how do I lead this football team to a championship,” Kelly said. “All we’ve seen is him leading, him being selfless. His selflessness is going to be the differentiator from last year to this year, as well as the experience he had playing against really good SEC teams.”

Kelly also highlighted Nussemeier’s mentality and willingness to learn and improve as a player as one of the reasons he believes his quarterback has what it takes to win in the SEC.

“Every day he comes to workouts, every day I come to practice, he’s looking for areas to improve on. I would tell you that experience is going to be his best teacher in the SEC. Having played a year in the SEC and seeing what needs to happen on a consistent basis is most important,” Kelly said.

“He brings the individual trait that coaches love because he wants to be taught, coached. He wants to be coached hard. He wants to be coached in a manner that gets him to be the best version of himself.”

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Alt will join the Los Angeles Chargers after turning in back-to-back First Team All-American seasons with the Fighting Irish. He and Notre Dame’s offense posted an average of 39.1 points per game last year, good for second-best in program history.

Taken as the first offensive lineman at No. 5 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, Alt cherished his three seasons at Notre Dame under head coaches Brian Kelly, who later took the job at LSU in 2022, and Marcus Freeman.

“Extremely grateful for that opportunity to be in that position,” Alt said. “There’s a lot of great people at Notre Dame who have allowed me to come this far. I was able to have two great head coaches, three great offensive line coaches and two great offensive coordinators who I think allowed me to excel, taught me a lot and allowed me to kind of go put my best foot forward. So at the end of the day, I’m extremely grateful for those coaches and people who allowed me to grow at Notre Dame and be able to have this opportunity become reality.”

READ: Former Penn State SAF King Mack transfers to Alabama

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It didn’t always begin along the offensive line for Alt. He played quarterback growing up and during his junior year at Totino-Grace High School in Minnesota he moved to tight end. The 6-foot-8, 322-pound tackle even appeared at tight end and offensive line his freshman year at Notre Dame in 2021, playing in all 13 games.

Alt anchored the left side of the line at tackle for the Fighting Irish, even starting a span of 21-straight games across the 2021-22 seasons.

Alt might get a shot at right tackle with the Chargers in the NFL, and he said the biggest thing for him is “just getting comfortable.” He’s confident in his ability to progress at the position.

“Being able to set both on my left and right hand stance, being just as comfortable as I was at the left at the right hand side,” Alt said. “Did a lot of drills: pass pro, run blocking. Just to make sure I was comfortable there, and I thought we put a lot of good work in from then.”

READ: Former Colorado, Houston RB Alton McCaskill IV transfers to Arizona State

Alt will also be part of former Michigan head coach and new Chargers skipper Jim Harbaugh’s first year back in the NFL in 10 years, and he said he met the former head coach of college football’s defending national champion for the first time during the pre-draft process. 

Alt said he trained with Alex Boone in Minnesota preparing for the scouting combine where he recorded a 5.05 time in the 40-yard dash and 7.31 clock in the 3-cone drill, which was third-best among offensive linemen.

Having earned a role as one of Notre Dame’s team captains in 2023, Alt understands the expectations from being a team leader.

“You got a job to do and you have to hold up your bargain,” Alt said. “One of the five, one of the 11. And you know if you don’t do your job it’s going to hurt the offensive line, hurt the entire offense, so I think that’s why I love it. And, yeah, that’s kind of why I fell in love with the position and just really the camaraderie of the group in the offensive line group. I think it’s a special group.”

READ: Former Mississippi State, Vanderbilt QB Mike Wright transfers to Northwestern

The Alt family has a history of success on the playing field at the highest levels. Alt’s father John Alt earned two Pro Bowl selections after also being picked in the first round by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1984, and brother Mark Alt played in five seasons in the NHL.

Joe Alt described his mindset as one that allows him to “dominate.” He said he takes the field “refusing to lose and taking it one play at a time” capitalizing on “trying to do your best each and every play,” and in the NFL, that’s what he plans to do.

“Being wanted is one of the best feelings in the world,” Joe Alt said. “Being at a position that the coaches and people feel matters, it just makes you want to do it that much more and want to do it for them because they care so much about it. So now it’s my job to go get back to work and go home my best foot forward and do the best I can for whatever this team asks of me.”

The post Joe Alt cherishes Notre Dame career, hopes to put ‘best foot forward’ with Los Angeles after No. 5 overall NFL Draft selection appeared first on Saturday Glory.

In the 24 hours after Jayden Daniels heard his name called and he walked on stage in Detroit when the Washington Commanders selected him with the No. 2 overall draft pick, the reality of his childhood dream is setting in more and more.

Daniels thought back to waking up on Friday and texting former LSU wide receiver teammates Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr., who were chosen No. 6 overall by the New York Giants and 23 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars, respectively. He said it “kind of” set in the night of Round 1 kick-starting the 2024 NFL Draft last Thursday.

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“I was just sitting, laying in bed, and I was texting with Malik and Brian, man, and we were just like, ‘You know, we woke up as pros officially,’” Daniels said. “We’re all on our teams and we’re able to live out our childhood dreams. So it still hasn’t hit me yet but it’s starting to get there.”

READ: Colorado RB Dylan Edwards to transfer to Kansas State

READ: No. 1 pick Caleb Williams says he wants to be part of ‘a big portion’ of winning with Chicago Bears after NFL Draft

Daniels grew up in San Bernardino, California, where he helped lead Cajon High School on multiple deep postseason runs, breaking both school and state records, on the way to becoming a four-star recruit as part of the class of 2019.

He began his college career at Arizona State under head coach Herm Edwards, then transferred before the 2022 season to play for Brian Kelly and LSU. Daniels led the Tigers to a 10-4 record and Citrus Bowl victory his first year before winning the Heisman Trophy after throwing for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns to four interceptions as well as a 10-3 record.

Getting to the NFL was a dream Daniels said he’d had since he was a kid. In fact, he knew he wanted to get there when he was 7 years old.

“I got a blank piece of paper, wrote, ‘I’ll play in the NFL,’ and put it above my door so I’ve seen it every morning,” Daniels said. “The workouts with my dad, you know, when I didn’t want to work out, when I started doubting myself when I was younger, like, ‘Can I really do this, man?’ All the perseverance, I’ve been through the adversity in my life, led me to this point now.”

Daniels credited “the stability I was able to have at LSU” under Kelly and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan and others as a reason for his improvement from his first season as Tigers starting quarterback to his second — which ultimately would be the one he won college football’s top award.

“Same coaching staffs, same coordinators, and you know, it’s just the camaraderie and the trust that me and my guys built this past offseason and being able to find ways to take my game to another level,” Daniels said. “I didn’t want to come back to college to do the same thing I did the year before, so I wanted to take my game to another level. And you know, shout out to LSU and the support staff that helped me out whether that’s the Oculus VR stuff that I was doing or even after practice, the equipment people, the equipment assistants, the students catching footballs for me while when I’m the last one on the field, so I appreciate all of them.”

Daniels is the only player in Football Bowl Subdivision history to pass for 12,000 yards and run for 3,000.

In Week 11 last season, Daniels became the first player in FBS history to throw for 350 yards and 200 yards in the same game when he did it in a 52-35 win over Florida. He said that game “catapulted me back to win the Heisman Trophy.”

READ: Missouri hires Memphis’ Laird Veatch as athletic director

Daniels will now move on to professional football in Washington D.C., where he’ll be coached under a new regime led by Dan Quinn, who has coaching ties to both the NFL and college including a two-year stint at Florida as defensive coordinator from 2011-12.

There have been 12 quarterbacks to start at least one game for the Commanders since they moved on from Kirk Cousins following the 2017 season. Daniels aims to be the one to stick around and lead Washington into the future.

“God put me in this place for a reason,” Daniels said. “My life is already written out. He got a plan. I’m just following it. But that comes with the work at the end of the day. Nothing is given to me. It’s not a given I’m a starter Week 1. I got to go out, I got to earn it. I got to put in the work. I got to learn the playbook, earn the respect of my teammates and go out there and try to win football games.”

The post Jayden Daniels realizes draft dream after No. 2 overall selection by Washington Commanders appeared first on Saturday Glory.

According to Glen West of 247 Sports, the promotions took place on Tuesday. Sloan will “serve as the primary play caller but Hankton will also be actively engaged in how the offense is run.”

READ: Reports: Germie Bernard transfers to Alabama

Sloan joined LSU after Brian Kelly was named head coach prior to the 2022 season. He spent nine seasons at Louisiana Tech where the Bulldogs appeared in seven bowl games and won the Conference USA West twice.

Sloan also has past coaching stops at South Florida from 2010-11 and serving as an administrative assistant for East Carolina.

Hankton also joined the Tigers after Kelly arrived in Baton Rouge. He coached the likes of Kayshon Boutte and Malik Nabers, helping LSU reach its second-highest totals of 6,344 total yards and 3,770 passing yards in program history in 2022.

READ: Reports: San Jose State hires Ken Niumatalolo as head coach

Hankton coached for four years at Georgia as the pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach from 2019-22. There, Hankton coached receivers such as George Pickens and Mecole Hardman among others.

Hankton spent three seasons coaching wide receivers at Vanderbilt before Georgia. He’s also spent three seasons at Dartmouth and some time at Central Florida.

The post Reports: LSU to name Cortez Hankton, Joe Sloan co-offensive coordinators appeared first on Saturday Glory.

Daniels joined former LSU halfback Billy Cannon in 1959 and quarterback Joe Burrow in 2019 as Heisman Trophy winners from the program.

READ: LSU’s Jayden Daniels wins Heisman Trophy

Daniels made sure to give thanks to those who came across his journey in life. He began his college football career at Arizona State in 2019, joining the Sun Devils as a four-star recruit according to Rivals.

Daniels navigated three seasons at Arizona State, compiling an 18-12 record while the Sun Devils went on to fire head coach Herm Edwards in the middle of the 2022 campaign — when Daniels had already arrived at LSU.

Daniels joined LSU head coach Brian Kelly in becoming part of the Tigers football program. Kelly took the reins as head coach, and Daniels was his quarterback.

Across two seasons at LSU, Daniels went 19-7 and compiled 6,725 passing yards, 57 touchdowns to seven interceptions, and he averaged 231.8 pass yards per game while in college.

READ: LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. among college football award winners

While standing on the Heisman stage in New York City on Saturday night, Daniels gave thanks to his family, the LSU coaching staff, members of Arizona State, former coaches and teammates, and his fellow Heisman finalists, Oregon’s Bo Nix, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr.

Here is Daniels’ full Heisman accepttance speech.

“Thank you,” Daniels said. “This is a dream come true. I want to first give thanks to God for all the glory. He’s my rock, my savior. He blessed me with the talents and ability to get here. All the special people here to develop these skills.

“To Bo, Mike and Marvin, you guys are amazing. I enjoy watching, but the competition is never over. I look forward to seeing you guys on Sundays. I would like to start to think with a few things, thank you’s. I learned from previous winners the first lesson of becoming a great quarterback, you got to thank your O-line first. Thank you guys for getting me here today in one piece. I know it wasn’t easy. I scramble around a lot but you know I love you guys. I have so many coaches to thank.

“My high school coach Nick Rogers. He is here. Thank you for believing in a 14-year-old freshman to start on varsity. I probably weighed 140 pounds. I appreciate you. Taylor Kelly. Thank you for helping me elevate my game, taking me to new heights and the next level. I want to thank Herm Edwards, Marvin Lewis and Antonio Pierce. Thank you for your leadership and welcoming me when I was at ASU and thank you for giving me the keys to the program. To coach Kelly, coach Frank, coach (Mike) Denbrock and coach (Joe) Sloan and the rest of the LSU football staff. Thank you for trusting in me to lead your team. I learned so much from you guys. You took a kid from the West Coast and brought me back down to the bayou. I’m forever thankful. I want to thank to every single LSU fan for having my back. I never seen fans pouring their hearts into a team like LSU. I really wish I could have brought you back another championship, but that was my plan but you know God has other plans for me.

“It’s so hard. I want to thank all my teammates from Arizona State to LSU. You’re my brothers. You work so hard every day inspiring me to be my best. The truth is I will truly miss all you guys. Having future NFL players on my team makes my job look easy. You know, my receivers always say this: they’re like Waffle House, they’re always open.I also want to acknowledge all the unsung heroes of this game. Trainers to the nutritionists, equipment managers, groundskeepers, janitors, you know, security, everybody. Basically everyone who works behind the scenes to make sure our sport is the greatest on earth. I know sometimes it’s a thankless job so I want to say thank you.

“Finally, I would like to turn to my family. Dad, you know you put a football in my hands when I was young. I know you raised me to be a corner but hopefully now you see me playing quarterback. It paid off. You taught me how to play, lead and be calm no matter the situation, and I know I wouldn’t be on this stage if it wasn’t for you, so thank you. I love you. My rock, my momma. You were so nervous when I was playing my first high school game that you couldn’t watch my first high school touchdown. You closed your eyes. But after that you never took your eyes off the field. You always had my best interests at heart from day one, and you showed me that tough love when I needed it. You instilled in me the hardworking mentality thatgot me here and you always told me keep my eyes on the prize. You encouraged me to always bet on myself because you always believed in me no matter what. I graduated in three years because that’s something that you pushed me to do, and here now I’m on this stage and I love you mom. Thank you.

“I want to shout out one more person Sherman Wilson. He’s in the stands somehwere. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, bro. Pushing me no matter what. You might be annoying, but you know I love you dog. Being a college athlete and winning this award has been a dream come true. I want to dedicate this award to every boy and girl who has a dream. With faith and hard work you never know what’s possible.

“They said I was too skinny so I added weight. They said I relied on my legs a little bit too much so you know what? I went to work, completeed all those passes, had this season I had, so I thank everybody out there. And they said I was too quiet so I became more vocal. I stepped out of my comfort zone and now I’m here today. So what did I learn from all this? I learned how to block out the noise, that you can overcome any obstacle and just be humble, be Legendary and most importantly, be joyful about what you do. And when you get knocked down, get back up, keep smiling and never give up on your dreams. I want to end this special thank you to Greg Williams Jr. and his family. You gave me inspiration to continue on this journey of greatness and keep fighting. Thank you.”

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There are four ranked matchups on the schedule this week. Friday will get the ranked ballgames started when No. 10 Utah travels to No. 19 Oregon State, which suffered its first loss of the season to No. 16 Washington State.

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Cougars quarterback Cam Ward earned Pac-12 offensive player of the week honors after a 404-yard performance. Ward added four touchdowns and completed 82.4% of his passes, good for seventh-best in program history. 

Here are several games to watch this week. 

No. 22 Florida at Kentucky 

A matchup between two 4-0 programs is set to take place at Kroger Field on Saturday. 

Defense just might be the name of the game and the key to victory for either team. Neither Florida nor Kentucky rank in the upper half of the Southeastern Conference in total offense, and the Gators are No. 8 while Kentucky is No. 9. 

The Wildcats are entering their first ranked matchup of the season, and it comes two years after they upset No. 10 Florida at home 20-13. The Gators had Kentucky’s number 29-21 during the 2019 season. 

“I mentioned last week when they talked about them beating us in the year before it really doesn’t have any bearing on that game,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said. “If it does for our players, if they come in locked in early in the week then that’s the way I expect our team to be anyway. We’re playing Florida. You know it’s going to take a great effort. We’re playing that home; we should have a great sense of pride. And I think there’s that term that we use a lot in our program is that divine discontent. We know there’s more out there. We know we can play better, and that ought to be our motivation.” 

READ: Big Board: Week 5

Stoops also had positives to say about Florida quarterback Graham Mertz, who considered Kentucky when he entered the transfer portal after last season. 

“He’s been very good with the football,” Stoops said. “I think they have very few turnovers in general. I want to say he only maybe has one, and he’s been very efficient. Very smart getting rid of the football and taking care of the ball and running their offense, and he’s been very efficient. So he’s played very well.” 

No. 24 Kansas at No. 3 Texas 

A Big 12 matchup is set to take place in Austin, Texas, and the two teams between Kansas and Texas have a history. 

The Jayhawks topped Texas in 2021 during what was only their second win of the season Nov. 13, 2021. Kansas finished 2-10 that year, while Texas went 5-7 in Steve Sarkisian’s first year as head coach. 

Texas got back at Kansas last season with a 55-14 blowout at home. The loss left a bad taste in the Jayhawks’ mouths. 

“Old news, it doesn’t matter,” Kansas head coach Lance Leipold said. “Both teams are significantly better. And it doesn’t do you — it’s honestly it’s so far in the past. We got to keep moving. Yeah, it helped this program. It helped our players but we can’t, yeah, that’s about it.”

READ: Quotables: Week 4

And now, Leipold said the athleticism stands out about Texas now. 

“Yeah, and I guess I’ll add to that. I hope it’s the last time I have to answer that question this week honestly, I do,” Leipold said. “I really want to focus on our team now and where we’re going because that’s what’s important. It’s an excellent football team across the board. You can tell for coach Sarkisian, the staff he’s put on it offensively, he’s one of the best playcallers in the country. The movements and shifts and different looks that he gives, how they spread the ball about the playmakers that they have, huge up front and very athletic, well coached offensive line. And then defensively a front that, again, I think that’s a group from if you are going to keep looking at our previous meetings, I think that the defensive line continued improvement for them and consistency, maybe not improvement, but just consistent play and physical, tough kids. Linebackers who are extremely physical and run well. So yeah, it’s definitely to me a different team and a huge challenge for us and one that we’ve got to have our best week of preparation yet.” 

Kansas’ offense is No. 5 in the Big 12 averaging 37.8 points per game, and Texas is right behind at an average of 35 points per outing. 

Both the Jayhawks and Longhorns are in the top-three in their conference in total defense, as Kansas is second allowing 296.8 yards per game and Texas is third giving up 298.5 yards per game. 

No. 13 LSU at No. 20 Ole Miss 

LSU is seeking to reenter itself back into the College Football Playoff mix. 

After suffering a Week 1 upset to No. 5 Florida State, head coach Brian Kelly and the Tigers had to do a bit of soul searching to figure out what kind of team they are. 

Now they go on the road for two games, and the first will be against No. 20 Ole Miss, which lost 30-24 to No. 12 Alabama.

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Quarterback Jayden Daniels has played steadily in 2023. He’s eclipsed 320 passing yards in each of the past two games, and he threw four touchdowns last week against Arkansas. 

One of Daniels’ targets had a breakout game against the Razorbacks, as Malik Nabers became the 13^th player in LSU history to catch over 200 yards. He finished with 239 receiving yards and two touchdowns. 

Ole Miss will bring a defense that ranks No. 61 in total defense, allowing over 351 yards per game. Linebacker Suntarine Perkins is tied for third with three sacks this season. 

Kelly thinks LSU has learned about itself through the first four weeks of the season, and this week he’s hoping to see a complete game with a distinctiveness about the team.  

“I’m seeing that starting to evolve in that identity, and look, I mean, there are times when you play in quality competition that you get a better sense and feel for your team. And especially when you’re down, right?” Kelly said. “We weren’t down against Mississippi State at anytime. We weren’t down at any time against Grambling. And we really didn’t have the right mix of mindset going into the Florida State game. So this was our first chance really to identify who we were when we got down late, and we immediately responded and we came out in the second half and played the kind of football that I expect. Never flinching, knowing that we were going to take some more shots and when we gave up a play, we forgot about it and we got to the next play.” 

The post Preview Thursday: Week 5 appeared first on Saturday Glory.

Also, we give some love to a first-year head coach who got a road victory against a P5 school as an underdog, but maybe not the coach you’re thinking of.

Finally, did Michigan protest itself this weekend?

The post The Daily Huddle 9/4 – Where Does LSU Go From Here? appeared first on Saturday Glory.

The post The Daily Huddle 9/3 – Week One Overreactions appeared first on Saturday Glory.

Week 1 is set to kick off Thursday night, featuring a ranked matchup between Florida and No. 14 Utah in Salt Lake City. Ranked teams are already off to a 2-0 start this season. 

There are also head coaching debuts that will take center stage among the biggest talking points of this week. Luke Fickell will take over at Wisconsin, Matt Rhule will do so at Nebraska and Deion Sanders will take the reins at Colorado, to name a few. 

Each of the top-4 teams are set to play Saturday against unranked competition. This week the focus remains on a top-10 matchup between No. 5 LSU and No. 8 Florida State — a rematch of last season’s opener in which the Seminoles took victory. 

Here are several games to watch this week. 

Miami (OH) at Miami 

The battle to determine where “the real” Miami is set for center stage Friday. 

Miami (OH) quarterback Brett Gabbert, the younger brother of former No. 10 overall pick Blaine Gabbert, took his stance on where he believes the real Miami is. 

“Oxford, Ohio,” Brett Gabbert said. “I think we’ll show them Sept. 1.” 

The two programs have met only one time prior, according to Sports Reference, and the Hurricanes took the win in 1987. 

Gabbert appeared in four games a season ago and threw for 816 yards. His performance came a year removed from a season in which he tossed a career-high 2,648 yards and 26 touchdowns. 

Miami (OH) must improve offensively in order to keep the pace with Miami. The Redhawks averaged 305.6 yards per game last season and allowed an average of 371.6 yards per outing defensively. 

Miami ranked No. 97 in scoring offense and No. 67 in scoring defense a season ago. The Hurricanes return their starting quarterback in Tyler Van Dyke and the supporting cast around him, shaping up for a battle between two programs to settle naming bragging rights. 

Colorado at No. 17 TCU 

This game is full of possibilities when it comes to looking at the matchup between the Buffaloes and Horned Frogs. 

No. 17 TCU is entering the game after advancing to the College Football Playoff National Championship last season. It became the first program from the Big 12 Conference to advance to the CFP title game. 

Across the field will be Colorado and new head coach Deion Sanders. 

Sanders is coming off back-to-back Southwestern Athletic Conference championships and compiled a 27-6 record over three seasons at Jackson State of the Football Championship Subdivision level. 

He takes over a Colorado program with 87 newcomers and nine returning scholarship players. Sanders’ son Shedeur Sanders is set to take over duties at quarterback after throwing for 6,983 yards and 70 touchdowns to 14 interceptions in two seasons at Jackson State. 

Sanders said TCU has “great coaching” and “will be fundamentally sound” when the two teams take the field Saturday at noon on FOX. He said he’s proud of the strides his Colorado team has made, and he’s gearing up to guide them as they put it on the football field this week. 

“Practice-wise, man, these guys have been getting after it and I’m proud of them,” Sanders said. “They’ve been working their butts off, and they’ve kind of challenged one another to do so as such. Morning message (Tuesday) really wasn’t me talking at them. It was them telling me what they need to do to be dominant in this game, and everything they said we wrote on the board and we said, ‘OK, now go out there and practice and do it. Don’t wait until Saturday to do it. Do it now.’ So I’m happy with our young man, I really am.” 

Even with the number of new players that Colorado will have on its roster, Sanders said he and the Buffaloes are embracing all that comes with it. 

“They came here because they wanted it,” Sanders said. “They came here because they wanted the light. They wanted the smoke. They wanted the attention. They wanted the focus. They wanted the love, but also you got to understand there’s an opposite of that as well that you got to be willing to accept when you want and desire those things. These kids are ready. We’ve prepared them not just athletically; we’ve prepared them mentally for things and challenges that’s going to happen in life as well.” 

West Virginia at No. 7 Penn State 

The two programs in neighboring states will meet for the first time since 1992 in an interesting Week 1 matchup between Power 5 programs. 

The Nittany Lions enter the game under head coach James Franklin who is in his 10^th year in his position. They went 11-2 last season and had a bounce-back year after going 7-6 in 2021. 

Franklin isn’t ready to name a starting quarterback just yet, but it appears Drew Allar will lead the Nittany Lions under center in his second season. 

Allar showed he has potential to be a threat in the air and on the ground last season. After splitting some duties and sitting behind veteran Sean Clifford, Allar went 35-for-60 and threw for 344 yards and four scores, all the while running for 52 yards on 18 carries. 

Franklin said Penn State’s coaching staff has “charted everything” during the preseason and compared the data to past quarterbacks such as Clifford and Trace McSorley. Franklin said Allar had “a good camp” and has given the coaching staff confidence entering the season-opener Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on NBC. 

“He’s been really, really good,” Franklin said. “His decision-making has been good. His completion percentage has been really good. And then the other thing that’s really cool is having all this data then you’re able to go back and compare to historical data.” 

No. 21 North Carolina at South Carolina 

The Battle of the Carolinas and the Duke’s Mayo Classic is set to take place during a Week 1 matchup among No. 21 North Carolina and South Carolina. 

Both teams last met in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl during the 2021 season when the Gamecocks prevailed 38-21. Both teams return their head coaches from that matchup in North Carolina’s Mack Brown and South Carolina’s Shane Beamer. 

The contest will get underway in Charlotte, North Carolina, featuring ESPN’s College GameDay and possible Heisman Trophy contenders Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye and South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler. 

“Now it’s time to kick it off,” Brown said. “I’m very, very proud of our program that we’re a top-20 program in preseason understanding that postseason is what matters, not preseason. But at least people think we have a chance to be good. We’re on ABC primetime, and our opening game on Saturday night against a really good opponent and we’ve got College GameDay for the third time in the history of our program so a lot of positive things to kick off the season.” 

No. 5 LSU at No. 8 Florida State 

The first Top 10 matchup of the season is a big one during Week 1, and it has the feel as if it seems like a College Football Playoff game. 

A matchup between potential Heisman Trophy candidate quarterbacks in LSU’s Jayden Daniels and Florida State’s Jordan Travis is in line to be one of the leading headlines from this game. 

The Seminoles prevailed narrowly 24-23 a season ago, and head coach Mike Norvell and Florida State aim to repeat their success from last season. 

“We’re excited for the opportunity that’s ahead and the chance to go out with our first game and work to go put the best version of ourselves out on that field next Sunday night,” Norvell said. “We talk a lot about the identity of a team, and I see one that, like I said, has a great work ethic, really care about each other. They pushed and competed throughout, and we still need every rep and every minute leading up to kickoff to continue to get better.” 

The Tigers will enter their second season under the system that is guided by Brian Kelly. Kelly’s LSU team in 2022 went 10-4 and averaged 34.5 points per game which ranked No. 24 among qualifying programs. 

The two teams will meet under the lights Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on ABC, and one top-10 team is bound to suffer its first loss in the first full week of the season. 

“Look, I could talk for quite a long time about our football team and the development of our team,” Kelly said. “I think you look at some of the things that are really important, and that is where we’ve improved from last year it’s just overall. We’re a smarter football team. We understand the systems. We understand the process. We understand the things necessary to become more consistent and everything that we do to be a championship football team.” 

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